Ch. 671..680

A Spoonful of Sugar: Don’t Beg for Love Chapter 671

Jessie could see the strange interaction between the two but could not tell what had gone wrong between them, but it did feel like a tit-for-tat, so she could only walk over silently and sit down across from Ehren.

"Pfft, what a shameless uninvited guest." Ehren rolled his eyes.

Just as Jessie was about to lose her head, she remembered that he was a friend of Hesper’s friend, so she could only swallow her rage, faked a smile, and said, "I’m sorry, I’m still young, so I could sometimes be depicted as a rude lady."

Hestia and Nathaniel also sat down. They had ordered food before they came, and Jessie had ordered a few dishes according to Hesper’s taste, so she only sat quietly, waiting for the plot to unfold itself.

‘Although Hesper’s lost Rickard, Nathaniel looks fabulous too!’

"Excuse me, I’m sorry if this sounds abrupt, but are you Ehren Sulzbach from the Sulzbachs?" Hestia looked past Nathaniel and stared at Ehren.

Ehren responded with a cold snort. "So what if it’s me? You’ve lost your memory just like that, huh? You can really be quite casual sometimes, Ms. Rivera."

Hestia could not tell why Ehren was so rude to her, but it probably had something to do with Jessie, or their encounter before she lost her memory was very unpleasant.

But now, if she wanted to get more information about the Sulzbachs, she could only endure all of Ehren’s sarcastic remarks.

"Ehren, be polite."

Nathaniel spoke lightly on the side. And although Ehren was still a little bit dissatisfied, it was not difficult to see that he had become slightly more tamed as if he was a big dog whose mood has been soothed.

Hestia was also a little hesitant about whether to shoot her questions directly. After all, the opportunity was rare.

"I’ll treat you to dinner tonight," Hestia said directly as she waved her hand. "All you need to do is answer a few questions of mine, and I thank you very much."

Of course, Nathaniel and Ehren were not people that could be bribed by something as simple as a meal, but Ehren still put down the glass of water in his hands, glared at Nathaniel with a hint of annoyance, and then said, "If you have any questions, just shoot. I’ll tell you what I know and what I can answer.”

Hestia looked at Nathaniel in surprise but saw that he was just sitting at the side as if he did not want to get involved in anything.

However, Hestia was not dumb either, knowing that such exchanges of information would definitely cost her something.

"Name your price."

Hearing what Hesper said, Ehren’s expression dimmed completely, and he stood up. "The heck, can you get your facts straight first before you attend a negotiation? Who told you that I want your money? If not for Nate’s sake, I'd never come out to see you!"

"Oh… Sure enough, you two were deliberately waiting for me."

Nathaniel looked at Hesper helplessly. "You’re still as bright as you were."

"Same goes for you."

Hestia then looked at Ehren who was sitting on the opposite side of the dining table with a smirk, and said, "If you aren’t going to want to answer my questions sincerely, I can’t guarantee that what you’re about to say today is the accurate and unmistakable truth."

"You!" Ehren glared at Hestia who was sitting across from him, then sat down and let off an exasperated scoff. "Talking to you is indeed a waste of time. Just listen to whatever you want to hear, and get out of my sight if you don’t feel like listening."

Ehren snorted coldly, while Hestia stopped worrying and asked directly, "What happened in the older generation of your family? Where did all the missing people go?"

A Spoonful of Sugar: Don’t Beg for Love Chapter 672

Although Ehren was ready for an open and honest chat today, he did not expect Hestia to be this rude and went for the most crucial question directly.

"What’s wrong?" Hestia met Ehren’s gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Can’t I ask this question?"

Ehren shook his head a little irritably. "The answer to this question is very long and complicated, so give me some time to sort things out… The current decline that the Sulzbachs are going through all branches from this matter. Do you know about the hallucinogenic drug case that Benjamin Lane and Uncle Idris investigated together back in the day?"

"The hallucinogenic drug case?"

After reiterating what Ehren just said, Hestia paused for a short moment and then shook her head. "I haven’t heard of it, and it hasn’t been mentioned in the information that I found… Is this matter important?”

"Yes, the tragedies faced by the Sulzbachs and the Tuckers all stem from this case." Ehren’s voice deepened.

Hestia subconsciously gazed at Nathaniel, but his face looked expressionless as if the Tuckers that Ehren brought up had nothing to do with him.

Hestia nodded. "Then let’s start with this case. Besides, you definitely didn’t come here to answer my questions."

Glancing languidly at the faces of the two men sitting in front of her, Hestia straightened her posture. "What do you want from me? I like everything to be listed out first so that I won’t be framed by others with the terms and conditions that come with the information that I want."

"I want you to marry me," Nathaniel said directly, and before Hestia could say anything, Jessie’s eyes had widened to the extent that her eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets.

‘No way, how this man presented his terms doesn’t even abide by basic law at all!'

Of course, Hestia did not think that Nathaniel proposed marriage out of love for her, so she lifted her eyes and said, "Give me a reason."

"In exchange for the information that you want now." Nathaniel looked straight into Hestia’s eyes. "You must have realized during this period of time that you can’t find anything about the Sulzbachs anywhere else. Not even the informant network that the Deschamps have always been proud of can do anything about it."

Hestia knew that Nathaniel was telling the truth, but getting married would inevitably involve a lot of interests.

‘Nathaniel doesn’t want to marry me but wants the Deschamps to help him with something. However, it’s just a piece of news. It’s not worth me putting the entire Deschamps family forward as a bargaining chip.’

"I need to think about it. You should know that I can’t make this decision easily." Hestia and Nathaniel confronted each other.

Nathaniel nodded, took a glimpse at the watch on his wrist, and said, "I’ll give you twenty minutes to think about it."

Jessie was dumbfounded.

‘At first, I thought Nathaniel was a very sweet person, but now it seems that he’s completely different from the Mr. Polite that I imagined him to be… But why does it look as if Hestia still wants to think about it?!’

Twenty minutes was not too short of a time period, but it was still a little too hasty for one to decide on a marriage.

Hestia lowered her head and sent a text message to her father. She did not tell him what had happened directly but asked him questions deviously instead.

[Hestia: Father, is the person from the Sulzbachs very important to you?]

The other party replied almost instantly, and the message was very concise, containing only three words.

[Charles: They're very important.]

Hestia knew Charles’s style of handling things. If it was not extremely important, he would not answer her question in this manner.

[Hestia: What if the Deschamps have to pay a small price for the answer that you’re looking for?]

Charles did not answer directly this time around.

[Charles: What price are we talking about?]

A Spoonful of Sugar: Don’t Beg for Love Chapter 673

Hestia pursed her lips, turned Nathaniel’s request into a text, and sent it.

Charles went silent for a moment, and Hestia could feel that he was thinking about it, which meant that the person they were looking for was in a certain sense determining the future of the Deschamps.

Hestia was not like Elise, who knew nothing about what the Deschamps’ did outside; she knew everything about it.

‘Judging from how Father is reacting, if something were to come to light, we might have to forget about the Deschamps as a whole. Even Father himself will face certain difficulties, and some might even be lethal.’

‘If what Father is running are just a few underground industries, it’s understandable to not worry about anything, but he has too much on the line.’

"Okay, I agree with your proposal."

"Hesper!" Jessie tugged at Hestia’s sleeve, but Hestia had already decided deep down and looked straight at Nathaniel. "You guys better know the answer to my questions."

Nathaniel seemed to have known that Hestia would agree to his terms, so he took out a stack of papers from his bag and placed it in front of Hestia. "This is a marriage agreement. We’ll move on with the topic as soon as you leave your signature on it."

‘He’s even got the contracts all ready?’

Hestia took a glance at Nathaniel and then began to scan through the terms of the contract.

Nathaniel came prepared; the contract stated every single term and condition very clearly. It was just an agreement between the two to get married, and they would not have to perform any commitment or obligations as husband and wife. They were nothing but two business partners who shared profits and benefits.

Even so, Hestia still went through the whole document, from the first line up to the last, and signed it after confirming that there was no problem.

"Since when did you become this cautious?" Nathaniel put the contract away and chuckled. "You still don’t believe me."

Hestia had always been very cautious, but for some reason, she was always more cautious than usual when signing a contract… It was as if she had been tricked by someone before this, so she had to go through every single line meticulously.

Before Jessie understood what was going on, Hestia had already signed the contract and sold herself. She could not comprehend what was going on for quite some time and could only watch as Nathaniel put the contract away.

"Now, can we proceed?" Hestia looked at Ehren.

Ehren did not expect Hestia to be this resolute and decisive. She had 20 minutes, but in the end, she agreed to the terms in less than two, knowing that Nathaniel was going to drag her down with him…

‘Isn’t she afraid?’

Nathaniel nodded and leaned back in the chair. He had already gotten what he wanted tonight, so it was only natural for him to give Hestia what she wanted.

"…The incident happened thirty years ago." Ehren lowered his gaze after being signaled. "At that time, technology was far less advanced than it is now, and a kind of miracle cure for all diseases appeared in a small town out of the blue. Before it made its way to a wider market, many less advanced townships and villages saw this drug as a lifesaver."

But of course, there was no such thing as a medicine that could cure all diseases in the world. The basic ingredient used to produce this medicine was extracted from a type of flower that could cause its consumers to hallucinate. The flower was a plant that had been cultivated after undergoing a series of artificial treatments, so instead of calling it medicine, a drug would be a more appropriate name.

Many people felt that their disease was getting better only because their nerves had been numb or paralyzed and they no longer felt the pain.

"The Sulzbachs weren’t like other families. Whether it was the Lanes or the Tuckers, which both created their own fortunes from scratch, the Sulzbachs were one of those wealthy families that passed their fortune down from generation to generation. Hence, when my ancestors, whose thoughts and ideologies were not so advanced, heard that this medicine could cure intractable diseases and maintain physical fitness, they bought a lot of them."

Ehren clenched his fists. "Anyone who ate them hallucinated to varying degrees. My father was working abroad at the time, so he was the only person who escaped the side effects."

A Spoonful of Sugar: Don’t Beg for Love Chapter 674

Hestia did not expect that there was such a drug that could completely burn a big family to the ground.

‘What’s the difference between this drug and opium or cocaine?'

"My youngest uncle didn’t believe in the effects of the medicine at first. He was a medical student, so he didn’t believe in the existence of such a thing at all." Ehren’s eyes were bloodshot. "However, the person who invented the drug kept on persuading my grandfather, and he became so confused that he spiked my youngest uncle’s dishes with the drug."

"Fortunately, my youngest uncle found out about my grandfather’s insane action in time, but he had already been taking the drug for quite some time at that time. What happened after that was that almost everyone in my family lost their minds… The causes of death that you find in the information that you have are false. What happened was that all of them committed suicide, and yes, they died in their fantasy."

It was Jessie’s first time coming into contact with a story of collective drug addiction, let alone the premeditated collective suicide of so many people.

"Your youngest uncle should be… Azariah Sulzbach. Then what about Skylar Sulzbach? Where is he now?"

Hestia still remembered what she saw in the information that she had. She was most suspicious of Azariah and Skylar, and Skylar was the second son in the family.

Hearing Hestia naming his uncles with great accuracy, Ehren was a little surprised, but he proceeded to nod. "Azariah Sulzbach was indeed my youngest uncle. I haven't heard from him ever since he disappeared back then. As for my second uncle, the last time I saw him, he seemed to be doing quite well, but he has refused to come back."

‘So according to him, both of them are still very suspicious… I still don’t know who Father is looking for.’

"You’re no longer in contact with your youngest uncle anymore, but can you still get in touch with your second uncle?"

Ehren shook his head hesitantly but then nodded again. "To be precise, it’s not that I can contact him, as he’s the one who’s been able to contact me. Before this, he would come back every once in a while, but I haven’t heard from him for three months now."

Hestia had no choice but to nod, and Ehren said awkwardly, "Since you've agreed to Nate’s conditions, I’ll keep an eye out for you in the future. If my second uncle contacts me, or if I find any news about my youngest uncle, I’ll let you know right away."

Jessie picked up some freshly served vegetables and asked indistinctly, "Why would you treat Nathaniel better than your family?"

Ehren scratched his neck and cleared his throat. "Nate is, of course, different. I’ve been following him around since I was a child. I don’t have any other relatives except for him and my biological brother."

Hestia did not bother to deep dive into the question. She had gotten her hands on everything she wanted to know, and she would not be able to find anything else important even if she were to continue to pursue it.

"Our wedding will be scheduled for a month later. Is that too hasty?" Nathaniel suddenly sat up from his seat and shifted his upper body forward.

Hestia laid back without showing any emotion and responded in a rather formal tone, "You can decide on this matter yourself. It’s up to you whether you need me to come forward during the wedding ceremony. If possible, I’d prefer there’s no wedding ceremony."

When it came time to talk about their marriage, Jessie and Ehren exchanged gazes and wished they were just clouds of air at that very moment.

"The ceremony has to be held. All you need to do is wait for my arrangement. I’ll give you the perfect wedding." Nathaniel smiled.

Hestia stood up instantly and pulled Jessie out of her seat. "Let’s go."

Everything was going perfectly well just seconds ago, but now she was leaving all of a sudden, so Jessie, who was caught off guard, raised her head in a daze. But Hestia had already left without looking back, so she could only catch up to her and follow closely behind.

Although she still did not understand what just happened, Jessie knew that Nathaniel and Hesper were going to marry each other because they were using each other.

"Are you not going to think about Rickard and Renfrew? I can’t help but feel that they might be devastated when they learn about this."

Hestia shook her head.

‘Rickard and Renfrew are, of course, not part of my considerations. The information that Ehren Sulzbach has provided me with today is very crucial to me.’

 

A Spoonful of Sugar: Don’t Beg for Love Chapter 675

‘If I want to locate the target of my current mission, I must first delve into the drug incident from back then, which is inseparable from the person that I’m searching for.’

‘With Ehren Sulzbach’s description, I now know how terrible the drug is. If it’s still being distributed in the market, it’ll leave a great impact on the people. And perhaps the tragedy of the Sulzbachs will once again make its way into more people and families.’

Although Hestia was a businesswoman, it was still impossible for her to do such a thing.

Jessie knew that she could not change Hestia’s mind, so the two returned home without saying a word. Hestia went into her room and locked herself up as soon as they arrived home, leaving Jessie facing the door of her room anxiously.

Hestia called Sylvie as soon as she entered the room. "Look into a drug-related case that happened about thirty years ago."

Sylvie did not expect that Hestia would suddenly want her to investigate new things. During her time in Genecity, Hestia investigation requests had been very miscellaneous and random, seemingly unrelated to each other, and it was quite troublesome to look into.

‘But who made her the lady of the Deschamps?’

Sylvie sighed, lifted the coffee mug in her hand, and comforted herself inwardly.

‘At least Ms. Deschamps hasn’t made a mess in Halwanest that I’ll be asked to deal with. All I've had to do so far is just sit in the office and investigate the things that she wants to know…’

"Plus, I’m getting married in about a month."

"Puff——" Sylvie choked on the coffee that was going down her throat and squirted it all out. "What did you just say?"

"I’m about a month away from getting married." Hestia had guessed that Sylvie would be shocked by the news, so she repeated the sentence in a calm tone and then said, "Father should know about this, but we plan to hide it from Mother, so don’t accidentally spill the secret in front of her."

Hearing this, Sylvie could not help but think.

‘How do you expect me to stay calm after listening to this? But since Mr. Deschamps knows about this, it’s probably not something that’s too ridiculous in his book…’

It’s nothing, it’s just ridiculous! Why are you getting married all of a sudden!

"May I ask you a question?" Sylvie tried to keep her tone steady. "Are you getting married to Mr. Duval again?"

"No, it’s a new one this time."

Hestia did not think it was an important matter, so she continued, "Remember to send me the things I want you to investigate as soon as possible. I know I’ve been troubling you with a lot of random tasks nowadays, so I’ll give you an extortionate bonus when I get back."

Sylvie’s eyes welled up.

‘Miss, my salary isn’t too low now. In fact, I don’t need the bonus as much as you think I do. So as long as you don’t cause any trouble in Genecity, I’ll consider that as a bonus.’

After hanging up the phone, Hestia subconsciously looked at the Duvals’ residence next door.

‘Everyone seems to worry a lot about Rickard on my behalf, but let’s be honest, even if I’d admit that Rickard does influence me a tiny bit from time to time, my interest will still always come first.’

Thinking of this, Hestia could not help but laugh at herself.

"Rickard must’ve done the same to Hesper in the past, so it’s time for me to return the favor."

Thinking about this, Hestia looked away, then drew a circle on Skylar’s name and murmured, "You’re now the breakthrough point of my mission. I hope you’ll show up as soon as possible. It’ll only do both of us good."

A Spoonful of Sugar: Don’t Beg for Love Chapter 676

With that, everyone spent the night thinking about their own plans.

The next day, Hestia still got up very early in the morning. And the moment she walked out of the mansion, she realized that Kenji was already waiting for her at the door.

Hestia was at a loss for words and rubbed her temples. "You’re like a ghost that lingers and haunts. Do you know an idiom of the Halwanese language that goes like this?"

Hearing what Hestia had to say, Kenji’s expression remained unchanged, and he responded calmly, "It’s my duty to protect you and stay by your side. Where are you going today?"

She could see that it was impossible to get rid of Kenji, but there was nothing special that she had to tackle today, as she had already found out what she could and wanted to know, so all there was left to do was to wait. With that idea in mind, she got into the car.

"We’ll go to Duval Group today."

Kenji was a little surprised, but Hestia did not seem to have changed her mind on the spot, and what she had on her mind was also not within his scope of work. So as long as he continued to stay by Hestia’s side, make sure she did not do anything to harm Rickard and the company, and keep her safe, that was it.

The car moved slowly, and Hestia suddenly turned her head sharply.

‘Something’s wrong. What’s with the sound that’s coming from the trunk?’

She then thought of something and did not bring up her finding instantly but sat in the car and went through the redesign of the studio. Although she had taken the studio back from Rachael, Hestia had not had the time or inspiration to come up with designs herself, and she did not have any contacts with any designers either.

It was indeed not an easy task to operate the studio.

But it was something that belonged to her in the past. So no matter what, Hestia would never abandon this studio, so she could only find ways to temporarily delay it.

They came all the way to the ground floor of Duval Group. When Hestia heard Kenji’s voice, she came back to her senses, nodded, and got out of the car.

"I’ll go and get the car parked. I’ll be back soon."

Kenji opened his mouth, but Hestia shook her head and gazed at the trunk. Although she did not say anything, Kenji understood the underlying message instantly, and his expression turned serious.

"Understood."

Hestia nodded casually. Naturally, she did not need to worry about the things that followed. She believed that Kenji would take care of the issue for her, but Hestia wondered for a moment who would be tailing her… Not to mention the method that had been used.

In a sense, being able to find an opportunity to sneak into Kenji’s car was already quite an achievement.

At this time, most of the people had not come to work yet. Hestia knew that Duval Group’s surveillance system was impeccable, so she was not stupid enough to do something within Duval Tower and went straight to her office.

About half an hour later, the employees of the company started arriving at the company one after another, and Kenji came back around this time too. However, he was holding a small child in his hand.

"…The person who was hiding in the trunk just now was Young Master Renfrew." Kenji felt a little embarrassed. He could handle almost everything in the world but coaxing children was beyond his capability.

Seeing Renfrew, Hestia was astounded for a split second, while Renfrew stared back at her with his aggrieved gaze.

Hestia did not want to coax the boy either, but before Rickard arrived at work, she was the only one who could keep an eye on Renfrew.

She waved her hand a little irritably, and Kenji quickly escaped the scene as soon as he saw her signal. "Okay, Ms. Deschamps. I’ll be at the door. You can summon me if you need anything. I’ll be here in no time."

Hestia did not know what to say. Knowing that Renfrew had autism, Hestia frowned and sighed. "Just sit here; your father will come later. And you should never sneak out of the house. If something were to happen to you, your family members would die of anxiety."

A Spoonful of Sugar: Don’t Beg for Love Chapter 677

"You… You’re my mommy."

Hestia could feel the softness in Renfrew’s attitude and explained, "I don’t have any memory about you for now, and I don’t like children either. So if you want to throw a tantrum here, please know that I won’t do anything to coax you."

Renfrew digested Hestia’s words rather slowly, and his eyes turned bloodshot.

However, even so, Renfrew still did not cry, because Hestia had already told him that she did not like children crying, so even if he wanted to cry, he knew that his mommy would only dislike him even more if he were to do so.

Seeing that Renfrew was still obedient, Hestia’s expression softened a little, and she asked Renfrew to sit down on the couch.

"There’s no breakfast here, so if you’re hungry, go outside and find Uncle Kenji." Hestia sat down, turned on her laptop, and continued to look at the arrangements for the studio. "When your father comes, you can go to him. He should be here soon.”

…

Rickard was indeed almost here.

Rickard usually arrived at the company early. If Renfrew had not gone missing all of a sudden and could not be found anywhere, he would already be in his office at this time. He had been busy searching for Renfrew all morning, at least until he received Kenji’s update about his son; that was when he asked everyone under his order to stop looking.

He did not expect Renfrew to find a way to come out and meet his mommy even when he was not allowed to see Hestia.

Thinking of how Renfrew often ran away from home in the past, he did not expect that even if he was a little autistic now, he would still sneak out of the mansion without leaving a message and remembered to delete the surveillance footage.

Benji was driving the car when he sighed inwardly for Renfrew, but what he wanted to know about the most now was Hestia’s attitude towards the young master.

‘Ms. Deschamps has been very indifferent to Young Master Renfrew. She’s completely different from Ms. Rivera. But Young Master Renfrew has always been very obedient and sensible, so no matter how indifferent Ms. Deschamps is, she probably wouldn’t reject such a cute child, right?’

"This is not going to turn out well."

Rickard was not as optimistic as Benji was. When Kenji called him just now, his tone sounded rather awkward. It could be seen that Hestia was looking after Renfrew now only because she did not want him to cause her more trouble.

‘No matter what, my top priority is to bring Renfrew back.’

After arriving at Duval Group, Rickard went straight to Hestia’s office.

"Come in." Hestia lifted her head when she heard the knock on the door.

Renfrew was indeed very quiet. He had only been sitting on the couch, staring at her the whole time.

When Rickard walked into the office, he saw Renfrew sitting on the small couch, staring at Hestia very attentively. He did not seem to have heard him coming in and did not even turn his head.

Rickard remained silent for a moment, then walked over and said, "Renfrew, Mommy has to work, so let’s not disturb her. Come out with me, okay?"

Renfrew reacted slightly to his words but still shook his head dully when he met Rickard’s gaze.

Rickard wanted to test Hestia's thoughts about Renfrew too, so he took the opportunity to look up at Hestia, only to see her wrinkle her nose and say, "Forget it. He’s pretty quiet, so as long as he doesn’t make any noise, I’ll just regard him as an extra ornament in my office."

"…Thank you."

Hestia was a little surprised that someone like Rickard would actually say thank you to her. At this moment, she remembered her wedding engagement with Nathaniel, so she spoke up about it.

"By the way, I’m going to get married soon, probably next month. Seeing that we're partners, do you want to attend my wedding?"

A Spoonful of Sugar: Don’t Beg for Love Chapter 678

Rickard thought he heard wrong at first, but he frowned when he saw Hestia’s frank expression. "Why are you getting married all of a sudden? Is it going to take place in Halwanest… And who are you getting married to?"

Seeing Rickard’s anxious reaction, the corners of Hestia’s lips inexplicably curled upward.

"It’s to Nathaniel Tucker. You should know each other."

Of course, Rickard knew Nathaniel. Hearing this, his expression stiffened and he froze instantly. "Do you know what he did to you before? How could you marry him? What did he tell you…?"

Before Rickard could finish speaking, Hestia had already interrupted him. "No matter what he did back then, we’re going to get married now."

Seeing Rickard’s upset expression, Hestia felt extremely delighted deep down. "I’ll send you an invitation. I sincerely hope that you’ll be there."

Before Rickard could speak, Renfrew, who had been extremely quiet on the side, screamed abruptly at the top of his lungs.

"Renfrew." Rickard strode over, hugged Renfrew, and glared at Hestia. After seeing her frown irritably, he lowered his head and tried to calm Renfrew down.

"Okay, now take him out." Hestia sat down and continued calmly, "I’m about to start working now. And just for your information, the final version of the previous proposal has been approved. I admit that I came here in the first place only to make things difficult for your company and force you people into a full retreat, but I can’t deny that your employees are skillful. As a partner of your company, I’ve approved you for the time being."

Rickard did not say anything and just picked Renfrew up and exited the office. This was Hestia’s first time feeling that she had been left aside by Rickard. She was taken aback for a split second but then lowered her head without giving off any emotional disturbances.

‘Isn’t it just not being someone else’s first choice? Shouldn’t you have gotten used to this kind of thing?’

…

As the cooperation with Duval Group officially started and went smoothly, all Hestia needed to do was to occasionally work with Nathaniel to decide on some details of their wedding ceremony while Nathaniel prepared everything for the ceremony, causing him to not have time to bother her.

Everything was currently either completed or on hold, so Hestia finally had the time to settle down and think about the affairs surrounding her studio.

It was obvious that she did not know how to do it herself now. However, fortunately, money was way more useful than anything else when one was stuck in such an intersection in life. She found a lot of well-known Halwanese designers and screened them one by one, leaving behind a few who had showcased their ideologies and creativity a lot more than others.

Although she could no longer come up with exceptional designs now, her aesthetic was still there. As for Jessie, she had gotten familiar with the operations of a studio before, as she was the one who had been maintaining the studio during Hesper’s disappearance, so handing the studio over to her left Hestia relatively at ease.

Furthermore, even if the management was really bad, it would still be very easy to keep the studio alive just by pumping more money into it, as Rachael had done.

Originally, everything went on pretty smoothly and steadily, at least until Matthew found out that Hestia was going to marry Nathaniel.

"My God, you’re indeed a perplexed woman who doesn’t know what you’re doing now. How could you agree to marry Nathaniel?"

Matthew called Hestia directly, and although Hestia frowned, she still listened to Matthew’s nag.

"Nathaniel regards our parents as his archenemies, the ones who killed his father. He even put you under house arrest before in order to make a move on us." Matthew never thought that Hestia would make such a decision. "If it weren't for him, you wouldn’t have gone through all these incidents and ended up losing all your memories"

It was obvious that these things were not mentioned in the information that she obtained from the Deschamps, so Hestia frowned.

‘Ever since I came to Genecity, the Deschamps informant network, which I’ve trusted wholly in the past six months, has become more and more cut off from the outside world than I can ever imagine. However, Nathaniel is the only person in this world who could provide me with the answers that I want. So regardless of whether I know about his past or not, I’ll still have to agree to his proposal even if I know very well that I’m boarding a pirate ship at the moment.’

"Did you hear what I just said?"

Hestia responded with a hum, knowing that Matthew was only saying so because he was worried about her, so her tone slightly softened too. "It’s just another form of business relationship that I have with him. I have my own sense of proportion… So don’t worry, Matt."

A Spoonful of Sugar: Don’t Beg for Love Chapter 679

It had been a long time since he heard someone call him Matt. Even if he knew that Hestia was just trying to bewitch him so that he would let her off, Matthew still fell for it and could only sigh.

"I’m really worried about you."

Nathaniel had already taken Hesper away from him right in front of his eyes once, and Matthew could not take such a hit again in his life, but Hestia seemed to have made up her mind.

Matthew knew that no matter what, he would never be able to persuade Hesper.

Hestia vaguely explained the whole matter to Matthew, knowing that she could never tell Matthew about her secret deal with Nathaniel. In order to prevent Matthew from bombarding her with more questions, Hestia suddenly thought of Vivienne.

"By the way, I also met my sister-in-law in Genecity."

Matthew immediately became silent after being shocked by this sentence. Then he said tentatively, "Please tell me that you haven’t been cheated by some random lady… Why didn’t I myself know that I have a wife?"

When Hestia heard Matthew’s response, she knew that Vivienne was only pining for him and it was unrequited love, but it was really fun to use it to tease Matthew.

"It’s Vivienne Scarlett, also known as Viv," Hestia teased. "She helped me a lot and even saved my friend. She even told me to call her Mrs. Lane."

Matthew was at a loss for words for a short while.

"Don’t listen to her horsecrap. We’re just friends."

Listening to Matthew’s tone, Hestia knew that things must not be that simple, but Matthew seemed as if he might become angry if she brought Vivienne up again, and the result would only become counterproductive, so Hestia could only answer a few more question with perfunctory responses and then hung up the call.

In any case, her phone call with Matthew did allow Hestia to obtain more information.

At least she now knew that Nathaniel was not a credible person at all. No matter whether it was something that she had questioned before or something that she had never doubted, this person had only been trying to sweet-talk her with half-truths or outright lies. All his responses had been perfectly put forward, but all of them also managed to avoid answering the questions directly.

Thinking of this, Hestia suddenly felt stressed.

‘I hope I can find the person that Father is looking for soon so that I can quickly end this ridiculous marriage with Nathaniel.’

Sylvie’s research also arrived in a very timely manner, and what she had found was quite detailed this time. After reading it, Hestia finally knew why Nathaniel had always hated the Lanes, especially her and Matthew.

"This is very timely." Hestia gave off a faint smirk and shook her head as if she was sighing.

"What?" Sylvie did not hear her clearly, and Hestia did not plan to repeat herself, so she hung up the phone without saying anything.

According to Nathaniel’s description, this wedding ceremony would indeed not be simple, so it was not a problem for Hestia to invite Rickard. Of course, she would not miss such a good opportunity to irritate Rickard, so she added Rickard’s name to the guest list.

When Rickard saw the first version of the list, his expression turned cold, but he could only see Hestia’s back at that time.

In any case, Nathaniel was definitely not a good choice for Hestia.

Rickard had finally broken away from his initial shock and realized that something else must be brewing behind this marriage.

A Spoonful Of Sugar: Don’t Beg For Love Chapter 680

But no matter what, it now seemed that the wedding was already on the verge of completion. When Rickard thought of this, even though he knew that it was just a role-playing facade, he still felt a little bitter about it.

Apart from Rickard, the other person who could not accept the wedding the most was Renfrew.

"Young Master Renfrew’s condition has improved, but…" The doctor shook his head.

Rickard had already guessed the result, so he calmly nodded and asked Benji to send the doctor off.

After returning to the Duval residence, Benji’s expression looked slightly annoyed. His gaze swept across the room and landed on Renfrew, who had curled himself up in a corner and showed almost no inclination of communicating with others. Benji looked back at Rickard.

"I didn’t think Hestia couldn't even tolerate Young Master Renfrew. She clearly knows about the young master’s condition, yet she couldn’t be bothered to lie to him."

Benji was so angry that he did not even address Hestia as Ms. Deschamps or Ms. Rivera. The Hestia that he knew now was clearly not the same person as the woman who was formerly known as Hesper. And only now did Benji realize how kind Hesper was. At least she was not as cold-blooded and heartless as Hestia!

Rickard actually understood what Hestia was thinking.

‘To her, Renfrew has never been a part of her plan at all, so whether she gets called out for being cold-blooded or heartless, at the end of the day, Renfrew’s existence will only sidetrack her original plan. Hestia could, of course, say something to lie to Renfrew, but even if it’s something as simple as putting on a show, the price-performance ratio is still a little too low to her.’

Thinking of this, Rickard pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling rather distressed.

"We don’t have many options right now, so the only thing we can do now is not let Renfrew see Hestia, at least not until she’s regained her memories." Rickard put his hands down, looked at the lonely figure squatting in the corner of the room in the distance, and added, "Hesper is Renfrew’s only cure, but the woman that we now know is only a stranger who shares the same appearance as Hesper."

…

Although she knew that Nathaniel would do his best to give her a glamorous and exorbitant wedding ceremony, Hestia still felt a little awed when she saw the venue that he had prepared.

If she had not been one of the parties who agreed to the marriage agreement, she might feel that the wedding looked so romantic and luxurious that it felt a little wasteful. Nathaniel had heard that Hestia was coming over, so he appeared behind her right on time.

"You’re rather early."

Hestia turned her head and instantly thought of what Matthew had told her and what she had seen in the documents before.

If it weren't for all those things that proved that Nathaniel would not fall in love with Hesper, even she would have fallen into a trance for a moment or two.

Thinking of this, Hestia turned her head again and took a better look at the entire wedding venue.

"This isn’t necessary; we’re just putting on a play. How many people do you think will actually come?" Hestia took a few steps forward, and Nathaniel followed behind her with a smile, maintaining a distance of only half a meter away from her.

"Don’t be so heartless. I’ve put all my heart into preparing our wedding ceremony."

Hestia had no words for this.

She also did not want to discuss this issue with Nathaniel again. No matter how beautiful his words were, she had already experienced Nathaniel’s ability to come up with such banana oil, so it was better for her to talk about something more practical instead of wasting time with him.

"Have you found out more about the Sulzbachs? And has Ehren heard from his second uncle?"

Hestia’s calmness caused Nathaniel to freeze for a second. He shook his head and elaborated, "If there’s any news, Ehren will get in contact with you as soon as possible. As long as you haven’t heard from him, it means he hasn’t heard from his uncle either."

Hestia understood the reason why this matter could not be rushed, but the price that she had invested into this matter had already started to cost her. So if she still could not get what she wanted, she had already lost.

"This marriage doesn’t mean much, to begin with, Mr. Tucker, so you should be able to decide things. All of this is unnecessary."

Hestia’s words sounded almost heartless, and Nathaniel was about to say something when her cell phone rang.